Our lot has no access to the road, and the neighbor just blocked the path we've used for years. Can we demand a right of way?

Why

Article 649 of the Civil Code gives the owner of land, or anyone with a real right to use it, the right to demand a passage through neighboring land when the property is surrounded by other estates and has no adequate outlet to a public highway, after paying the proper indemnity. The easement is not compulsory if the land became isolated because of the owner's own acts, for example if he sold or built over the part of his land that used to reach the road.

The law also decides where the path goes and how wide it is. Under Article 650, the right of way is set at the point least prejudicial to the neighbor's land, and, as far as that allows, where the distance to the public highway is shortest. Under Article 651, its width is whatever is sufficient for the needs of your property, and it may change over time as those needs change.

The indemnity depends on the kind of passage. For a permanent passage that can be used continuously for all your property's needs, you pay the value of the land occupied plus the damage caused to the neighbor's property. For a passage needed only to cultivate the land and gather its crops, without a permanent path, you pay only the damage caused (Article 649). There is an important exception in Article 652: if your lot was acquired by sale, exchange, or partition and is surrounded by the other land of the seller, the other party to the exchange, or your co-owners, they must give the right of way without indemnity. This commonly applies when a family property is subdivided among heirs and one lot ends up with no road access. Under Article 654, you maintain a permanent passage and reimburse a proportionate share of its taxes, and under Article 655, the neighbor may ask to end the easement, returning what you paid, once your land gains its own access to a public road.

Long use alone does not create the right. A right of way is a discontinuous easement, because it is used at intervals and depends on people's acts (Article 615), and under Article 622 discontinuous easements can be acquired only by title, not by prescription. So a neighbor who tolerated your use of a path for years may generally close it. Your remedy is to demand a compulsory right of way under Article 649 and pay the indemnity, or to agree on a voluntary one; under Article 623, a deed of recognition from the neighbor or a final court judgment can supply the missing title. Separately, Article 656 requires a neighbor to allow temporary passage of materials or scaffolding when it is indispensable for construction or repair, after being paid for the damage.

Because this is a dispute over real property, if you and the neighbor are individuals living in the same city or municipality, it generally goes first to barangay conciliation in the barangay where the land is located (Sections 408 and 409(c) of RA 7160). If no agreement is reached, you may file a case in court to have the easement established and the indemnity fixed.